Ever wonder what the operating systems of the past were like? Find out now, online, without the need to install anything. You can try Windows 1.0, Mac System 7, Amiga OS and DOS – along with a few games – without leaving your browser.

Welcome to the world of online emulators.

The history of computersA Visual History of ComputersA Visual History of ComputersLet's briefly take a look at the last 60 years of computing advancements, and appreciate the tools we have today that enhances our lives.Read More is fascinating, but reading will only get you so far. If you really want to know what, say, Windows was like in 1985, you don’t need to find a computer from that age. A variety of enthusiasts have used existing emulators to offer classic systems on the Web. Here’s where to find them.

Windows 1.0

Before Windows gained a stranglehold on the OS market, it was an upstart with a graphical user interface. What did their OS look like? Let’s let Steve Ballmer pitch it, shall we?

Highlights include a black and white version of paint, shown above, and – of course – Reversi.

Would you prefer to see Windows 3.0? That’s the system most people are familiar with, and there’s an emulator for that, too.

Mac OS System 7

Apple’s been making computers a long time, and it’s interesting to see how much of their early design carries over to Macs today. If you’re curious about this you should check out an older version of the operating system. James Friend offers an online MacOS System 7 emulator.

You can browse the operating system itself, or try out some freeware included with the system. Highlights include Shufflepuck, an astronomy program called Orion, and an early version of Microsoft Word for Mac.

Amiga 500

The best selling computer in Europe during the late 80s wasn’t a Mac or a PC – it was the Amiga. Modern fanboys talk as though Windows and Mac have always been in direct competition, but Amiga was also a major player.

Wondering what that OS was like, or want to experience it again? This online Amiga 500 emulator lets you try a system from around 1991.

Included are a bunch of demos originally meant to show what the Amiga can do, presumably in a store. You can hear early text to speech, or watch a computer animated video. It’s wonderfully weird, so give it a shot.

PC DOS 5

Do you remember DOS? Of course you do. Windows users can pull up the Command Prompt to bring back memories, but if you want more you should check out this online IBM PC emulator.

It’s noteworthy for including demo versions of Wolfenstein 3D, Civilization and Monkey Island.

Non-emulated tours

Want a more recent nostalgia trip? Head to VirtualDesktop.org. This site doesn’t offer emulators, but you might not even be able to tell. You’ll see interactive screenshot tours of Windows and Mac systems. Everything works as you’d expect: click start, see the menu.

It’s a great way to quickly recall how older versions on MacOS and Windows looked – and felt.

Hover!

This doesn’t entirely belong in this article, but I can’t resist. Any kid who, for some reason, decided to explore the Windows 95 installation CD got a happy surprise: Hover!

You may have heard that Microsoft relaunched Hover as a web game – it’s a new version with a darker look, but it’s possible to unlock the original game on this site as well. Just type “bambi” before doing anything. You’ll see the original Hover, complete with a Windows 95 style desktop.

How come Basilisk II OR Sheep shaver don't work on Windows 64 bit? I got as far as intilization your disk following the setup guide using the two things on the volume but none of the file show up after launching the OS to actually install it.

Then try this. On chat tonight one participant reported he still does his US federal income tax, and state tax, on an Adam - 8 bits, 64K memory. Why not? Back in the day it was the backroom machine for the H&R Block tax preparation agency. Moore's Law even applies in classic computers; now folks have got them driving current printers, running SSD hard discs based on CF cards, and other neat tricks.

The software did the job then and can still be set up to do the job now. But it's simple enough for a knowledgeable user to tamper with and adjust to suit, like being simpler and easier to work with.

Just because Ford brings out a new model of your car doesn't mean the old one stops working. You might not even agree the new one works as well as the old (XP forever!)

The Amiga is a good, powerful, very user-friendly computer, with a spreadsheet program my wife found highly adaptable to just exactly what she wanted to do the way she wanted to do it. So she set it up to do just that and has every incentive not to change.

In fact, she needs two other spreadsheets for two other purposes, so she uses a quirky independent one from a long-discontinued suite called Easy Office, in the XP Virtual Machine on her Win7 Dell, and Kingsoft's free Office competitor for the other. Because they work.

Why should it be a big deal to look for the tool that does the job you need the way you need it done - and refuse to waste time and money messing around with something not as good because it's new? That's nuts. Sane people choose the answers that work best.

My wife has the commercial (Colanto) Amiga emulator running in the XP virtual machine in her Win7Pro laptop. It lets her play with her favourite Amiga graphics programs without firing up her Amiga 3000, which she uses for the spreadsheet on which she keeps the household accounts.

She also has the emulator for the Adam, the 8-bit computer built up from the popular Colecovision video game. In fact we plan to attend the 27th annual Coleco Adam users' convention in Cleveland (Adamcon 27) in mid-July. Information can be found at adamcon.org which is specific to the Adam community, though the gamers (who are still writing and issuing very collectible new games) also often hang out at atariage.org.

There is also a large Commodore community that has emulators for the PET, C64, and C128 as well as various Amigas. Start your search at tpug.org.

As a "not real tech saavy" computer user, I absolutely hate Windows 8. I have fought this new computer from day 1. It is at the Geek shop to have Windows 7 put in. They can do whatever they want with Windows 8. (I know what I'd like to do to it.) I do not have a touch screen monitor, what was Microsoft thinking? If I had known Microsoft 8 was such a headache, I would never have bought this new computer.

Do you mean Windows 8 vanilla or 8.1 because a lot of changed were made on 8.1 but by then it was pretty much too late. The ship was damaged beyond repair but 8.1 added a lot of features in the box to make Windows 8 smooth and is more compatible with things then 10 which still has the god awful phone apps stuff.

Win 8.1 has an arrow that allows you to access all your programs at once so you can organize things (yeah) WITHOUT 3rd party software involved or any sort of tinkering but MS failed to advertise that and they only ahve themselves to blame.

Windows 8.1 is what Vista and 7 should've been. I HATE windows 7 but I only have it because Windows XP is not secure anymore and I refuse to have 10 which does nothing but make computer noise.

There are many "commanders" available for current Windows computers. Closest in look and feel to the Norton original is Midnight Commander. It was created for console-mode Linux, but has been ported to Windows. I use it in Linux all the time.

I remember HOVER!!!
If I recall, on the Windows 98 cd there was another game demo, one where a futuristic spaceship thing was flown through a dark and stormy night, complete with portals and the like. I've really been wondering what game this was...

You may be thinking of "Deadly Tide", a Microsoft game staged under the ocean. Google t and check. In it you piloted a sub that looked like a Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider spaceship 8)
I've still got it on CD, and it will NOT play on Vista or Windows 7 without EXTREME modding lol.

As a pre DOS user I have been around and seen the evolution from the beginning. What a crazy evolution it has been too. Just think, what we think is cool today will be laughed at in less than 10 years and perhaps even sooner...;)

I especially liked Forth - on TRS-80 Model III (also I had two TRS-80 Model I - first with cassette tape program Save and Load for which I bought a case of very short tapes (5 minutes?). Forth was a disk operating system and application like word processing where one could look at the code and learn how. Reminds me of 2005 vintage One Laptop Per Child (from MIT) and its coding in Python. Also, have Altair 1975 with Kansas City BASIC.

I don't know exactly why, but this is so cool to me. Seeing how far computer has come in just 20-30 years is astounding, and being able to interact with history like this is sweet. I remember having Windows 98 on our first computer - that's as far back as my memory goes. I'll have to try some old versions of Mac OS out - thanks for sharing all of these!

If you are interested in experiencing what I consider one of the more prominent efforts by Apple, search for and install the Macintosh System 7.5 (I believe emulators exist for it, though I cannot recall if they are available for Windows).

System 7.5 was a leap in OS design unparalleled by Apple itself to this day.

The inspiration for Apple in designing System 7.5, of course, was one of the last iterations of the Amiga OS (even if they never admit to such). An emulator IS available for that OS (and runs on Windows).

I still use Windoze, but W7 is the last version I am willing to tolerate. I also use Android.

However, I will be switching to crunchbang linux (for desktop), and freeBSD for workstations later this year, keeping a W7 workstation available for the rare app which does not have an equivalent on the other platforms.

Er I was there at the start and yes Windows 1 was basic but the precurser was called GEM and about all it had was a Rotodex type card file. However the most significant thing that came out of Windows was the standardisation of programe interface with the user. Before it was necessary to learn the individual command keys of each package used. Each being totaly individual. So Wordstar, Supercalc and DBase each had their own quirky command structure.

Justin Pot is a technology journalist based in Portland, Oregon. He loves technology, people and nature – and tries to enjoy all three whenever possible. You can chat with Justin on Twitter, right now.